Evolving
by NotSoAwry
Summary: Kings Cross Station. September 1st, 1998. Who's waiting for Harry? Just a quick one, but I'd like to think that it happened. Rated T for strong language.
1. Chapter 1

Standard disclaimers apply!

I do not own Harry Potter. I have nothing to do with Scholastic, Warner Bros or Bloomsbury. I'm not JKR and I am certainly not making any profit out of this.

* * *

Evolving

* * *

For what must have been the 100th time in the last 55 minutes, the young man put down his newspaper, checked his watch and then glanced up at the large clock on the wall.

The seconds swept by very, very slowly – and he had to admit that it maybe hadn't been the best idea to get there as early as he had.

THEY certainly weren't early ... in fact they were cutting it a bit fine; the train left at 11 and it was already 10 before.

If they were coming at all ... and if he had the right place.

But he knew he had the right place; and The Daily Prophet had said that Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger were returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on September 1st.

The Daily Prophet had said a lot of other things too; things which he'd already heard, but he was still surprised – and weirdly a little bit proud – to see it all in print and moving pictures.

A loud hubbub drew his attention and he quickly snapped open the newspaper again, hiding behind it to watch a crowd of people hurrying toward him laughing and joking loudly as they did so.

God, they were scary. There were just so many of them! Suddenly he wanted to run away and never come back – but one of them had spotted him, nudged Harry and then pointed him out.

Bloody fucking shit! He was stuck now. Harry had acknowledged him with a short nod and held up 5 fingers before following his friends through the wall.

*

"Looking sharp, Dud."

Dudley jumped slightly and folded his paper before looking up at Harry, feeling at a disadvantage.

"Hi Harry." He stood up and immediately noticed two gingers staring at him slightly suspiciously. "Ron," he nodded hello, "George." God, his ear really WAS gone! "I heard about your brother, sorry."

"Yeah, it happens," George said and turned to Ron. "I'm off back to work, take the day off. I'll catch you both at home later. See you, Dudley."

All three watched him walk off and then stood in an uncomfortable silence for several seconds.

"So ..." Dudley began, and cleared his throat. "You made it."

"Yeah, we made it," Ron said when it became apparent that Harry was just going to stand around staring in disbelief.

Dudley noticed that Ron didn't look unfriendly, but he didn't look friendly either. Regardless, Dudley was grateful that he had spoken.

"Do your Mum and Dad know you're here?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Of course they don't," Dudley mumbled, "can you imagine? God."

"Why ARE you here?" Harry's voice was neutral.

"I just," Dudley fiddled with the cuffs of his new suit and hesitated. "Hestia told me everything that happened – and she sends me that magic newspaper sometimes – but I wanted to see."

"OK." Harry nodded, while behind him Ron shoved his hands in his pockets and relaxed some. "How did it go on your end?"

Dudley snorted rudely. "How do you think?"

Harry laughed at that. "I can imagine."

"Yeah," Dudley offered them a half-smile as Ron chortled in the background. "Mum and Dad didn't take it well."

They lapsed into another silence, looking everywhere but at each other. "Well," Dudley picked up his newspaper, "I'll, ah ... you know ... have to get back to work."

"Right, OK." Harry nodded slowly, "Eh, it was good to see you."

"You too."

They started to head off in the same direction, and the three of them half laughed again.

"Dud." Harry cleared his throat. "Do want to, um, get a coffee or something?"

Dudley stopped in his tracks and stared at Harry, shocked. "OK."


	2. Chapter 2

Standard disclaimers apply!

I do not own Harry Potter. I have nothing to do with Scholastic, Warner Bros or Bloomsbury. I'm not JKR and I am certainly not making any profit out of this.

* * *

"So ..." Ron cast about for a topic of conversation while Harry waited at the counter to order three coffees. "What do you do for a crust, Dudley?"

"Dad got me a job," Dudley said, staring out the window at the trains rolling past. "It's kind of shit, but I didn't do so good at school ... so yeah. Better than being on the dole," he shrugged.

"What's the dole?"

"Don't your lot have that?" Dudley looked back at Ron. "It's when the government gives you money if you can't find work, but it's not much."

"Yeah, we've got something like that, sort of."

Harry slid into the seat beside Ron. "They'll bring the coffee out," he muttered, clasping his hands together and resting them on the table. "So, how are they? Your Mum and Dad."

"The same as usual," Dudley sounded slightly bitter. "I gotta ask, how did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Live with us," Dudley explained, "and still turn out right."

"I was lucky," Harry shrugged, eyeing Dudley, "I got out when I was 11."

A waiter bought their coffee then, and they took refuge in sugaring it.

"Yeah, well." Dudley looked up from his coffee and directly at Harry. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Ron cleared his throat, glancing from Dudley to Harry and then back again. "I'm confused," he stated bluntly.

Dudley shrugged. "I've had a lot of time to think."

Harry frowned thoughtfully. "It was the dementors, wasn't it?"

Ron visibly shuddered while Dudley nodded.

"What did you see?"

"I was you," Dudley said simply.

"I didn't know they worked like that," Ron looked to Harry for confirmation, "did you?"

"No."

"Hestia said they don't usually," Dudley put in, "but maybe I didn't have many really bad memories, so they gave me yours because you were being attacked too. That's what Hestia thinks, anyway." He sighed heavily and stirred his coffee again, more to have something to focus on than anything else. "That started it but it was being in hiding with Hestia and Dedalus that really did it." He looked back up again. "They're alright, you know? Dedalus' kind of mad, but he's an alright bloke and Hestia's great."

"Fair enough," Harry nodded. "Um ... so you're working now?"

"Yeah, I was just saying to Ron that Dad got me a job."

"Better than being on the sole, apparently," Ron chimed in.

"The dole, mate, the dole," Harry said automatically. "You're at Grunnings?"

"Yeah. Sales. It's really boring, but," Dudley nodded at Ron, "better than being home all day."

"Oh?" Harry raised his brows.

"We're, uh, they've been really clingy since all this war business," Dudley explained, "even more than usual."

"Understandable though," Harry countered.

"You're feeling stifled," Ron stated.

"Yeah."

Harry shot Ron a cheeky look. "Well done, Weasley ... looks like you've learned something from Hermione after all."

"Haha," Ron rolled his eyes in good humour, "had to happen sometime, Hermione must have rubbed off on me."

"I don't want to know what that means," Harry grumbled with a short laugh, and turned back to Dudley. "Trust me, you don't want to either."

"I already know all about Ron and Hermione and you and Ginny," Dudley chuckled, "Dedalus thinks its soooo romantic." He put a hand to his brow and pretended to swoon. "Star crossed lovers forced to keep their feelings at bay by the ravages of war and all that."

"Oh Merlin," Ron snorted. "That sounds just like Dedalus."

"Doesn't it?" Harry agreed. "He was in raptures, I'll bet."

"Yeah." Dudley grinned, but then frowned as he glanced at his watch. "I really have to go," he said, with a certain amount of regret, "but it was good talking to you both."

"Yeah, it was," Harry agreed, as all three stood and Dudley shook both their hands in turn.

"Maybe we can, uh, catch up again sometime," Dudley suggested tentatively. "Um, owls and stuff at the house probably aren't such a good idea ... but if you're ever in the area, you know? Hestia or Dedalus could ..."

"Yeah, we could do that sometime," Harry agreed. "Or if you're ever around Devon ..."

"Uh, good. OK. Well, see you." Dudley gave half wave and left the cafe quickly.

"Well ..." Harry looked over at Ron, shaking his head in disbelief.

"That was interesting," Ron grinned. "Anyway, let's get out of here."


End file.
